Back to Top Skip to main content

Health.mil: the official website of the Military Health System (MHS) and the Defense Health Agency (DHA)

Utility Navigation Links

TRICARE Systems Manual 7950.3-M, April 1, 2015
TRICARE Encounter Data (TED)
Chapter 2
Section 2.1
Data Requirements - Overview
Revision:  
1.0  This chapter covers the Defense Health Agency (DHA) requirements for the presentation of data submitted by the contractor. It specifies the structure of files and records to be sent to DHA for editing and processing. It also gives a complete definition of each data element included in these records. The data element definitions are in alphabetical order by data element name. Data element definition forms, used for consistent presentation of each element, include element characteristics and parameters needed by the contractor for accurate submission of data required by DHA. Every data element is assigned an Element Locator Number (ELN) according to the following structure:
•  One Digit Record Type (followed by a hyphen)
•  0 - Batch Header (includes vouchers for ELN assignment)
•  1 - Institutional
•  2 - Non-Institutional
•  3 - Provider
•  Three Digit Element Locator Number For A Given Record Category
2.0  A Batch Header record is to be used as the first record in each batch/voucher of Institutional, Non-Institutional, and Provider records. Contractors use Batch Header records for Provider records and Batch/Voucher Header records for Institutional and Non-Institutional TRICARE Encounter Data (TED) records.
3.0  The Institutional record category is to be used primarily only when there is an inpatient admission to the institution. The Non-Institutional record category is to be used for submission of all other TED records, including outpatient maternity care rendered in an institution (cost-shared on an inpatient basis). The Provider record category is to be used to submit information for each provider who rendered care to TRICARE beneficiaries.
4.0  A data element “FILLER” has been included in all Record Layouts to provide for future expansion of data elements.
5.0  The following editing rules will apply to all data elements unless the Data Element Definition contains different instructions. Edits will be applied to all TED and Provider records.
5.1  All numeric fields (including monetary fields) must be right-justified and zero-filled. Non-numeric values are not permitted. All numeric fields which do not contain data must be completely zero-filled. Fields identified as signed numeric fields will be processed by DHA as positive values unless the low-order position of the field indicates it contains a negative value. All money fields are signed numeric containing dollars and cents without the decimal point.
5.2  All alphabetic fields must be left-justified and blank-filled. A HEX 40 must be used to represent a blank. All alphabetic fields which do not contain data must be completely blank-filled.
5.3  All alphanumeric fields must be left-justified and blank-filled. A HEX 40 must be used to represent a blank. All alphanumeric fields which do not contain data must be completely blank-filled.
- END -

Utility Navigation Links

DoD Seal

tricare.mil is the official website of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) a component of the Military Health System

TRICARE is a registered trademark of the Department of Defense (DoD), DHA. All rights reserved.

CPT only © 2006 American Medical Association (or such other date of publication of CPT). All Rights Reserved.

If you have a question regarding TRICARE benefits, please go to the TRICARE Contact Us page page.
If you need help with technical/operational issues, please go to the TRICARE Manuals Online Help page.

The appearance of hyperlinks to external websites does not constitute endorsement by the DHA of these websites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized government activities, the DHA does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at other locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD website.

v4.12.8657.14950

DHA Address: 7700 Arlington Boulevard | Suite 5101 | Falls Church, VA | 22042-5101

Some documents are presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). A PDF reader is required for viewing. Download a PDF Reader or learn more about PDFs.